David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

Archives for June 2011

Rights or choices? It might be time to re-frame the debate

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When I gave up the mainstream left/right way of looking at politics, I started seeing the world in terms of natural rights instead. I’d always been influenced by the natural law/natural rights school of thought, but that became my lens for pretty much everything. I’m starting to wonder, though, whether we should re-frame issues in terms of choices rather than rights.

It’s not that I’ve suddenly stopped believing that every human being has rights. In fact, I firmly believe in my understanding of what rights are and where they come from. But that’s the problem. When we talk about rights, we’re all coming at it from radically different directions. We believe that different things are rights and we also have different explanations for where rights come from. It makes for interesting philosophical debate, but it’s pretty useless insofar as changing the world.

Doug Douma is a libertarian friend of mine who recently wrote an article asserting that the origin of rights is the Bible — the Christian New Testament and the Hebrew Old Testament, which the Jews call the Tanakh. Even though I’m both a libertarian and a Christian, too, I didn’t agree with his conclusion, so even though we’re both Christians who believe in looking to scripture theologically, even we don’t agree on that. I offer this as one tiny example of how difficult it is to decide on where rights come from and what they are. If Doug and I don’t agree — and we both take scripture seriously — how can we expect people coming from entirely different philosophical points of view to have any chance of agreeing with us or each other?

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THE McELROY ZOO: Meet Maggie, the sweet dog who wouldn’t learn to be mean

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“Girls like mean dogs, so I’m gonna train her to be mean.”

That was my introduction to the shepherd mix puppy who I would eventually come to know and love. Doug was a troubled teen who lived with a family on my street, and he had gotten a puppy. He was no more ready to take care of an animal than he was to become a brain surgeon. He was irresponsible and callous from a dysfunctional upbringing, but he was trying to turn his life around.

As I stood in the driveway of the house where he lived — playing with this lovable bundle of energy — Doug kept talking. He told me that he was going to get the puppy’s ears pierced soon and start taking her to someplace where there were “fighting dogs,” so he could make her tough and vicious. I knew from talking to my vet that any dog can become mean if you treat it in mean ways. I was very troubled, but there was nothing I could do.

For awhile, my only contact with this puppy was when she would (frequently) get herself wound up in the rope that tied her up in the guy’s back yard. I would hear her whimper sometimes as I walked past and I’d find her completely tied up in knots, unable to move. When I’d tell Doug, he would seem unconcerned.

I can’t remember how long this went on. Doug seemed to lose interest in her. She never got the piercings, because he couldn’t afford them. He seemed disappointed in her, though, because his plan wasn’t working.

“I’m trying to make her a fightin’ dog, but she won’t be mean,” Doug said. “She don’t scare no one.”

More and more, I visited her in the back yard where she stayed tied up. She wasn’t getting much attention and she was getting no training. So I started trying to teach her to walk on a leash and learn basic commands. I didn’t ask Doug. I just did it. I’m not sure he even noticed.

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Will Honduras establish the first modern free city? It’s possible

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Where would you expect to see the first free city of the modern era? When people turn to economic freedom, it’s usually because there’s great need — and there’s great economic need in Honduras.

Economist Paul Romer has been talking about “charter cities” for some time now, and Honduras is taking tentative steps toward allowing the establishment of one or more of them. The country’s constitution has recently been changed to allow charter cities. There’s a lot that still has to happen before it becomes reality, but it’s a huge first step. (Here’s another Wall Street Journal story about it.)

For some background, read this page at Romer’s CharterCities.org website: A New City in Honduras

I learned about this project from Michael Strong, who’s been a passionate advocate for the idea of free cities. I strongly recommend watching his 18-minute talk at a recent conference in Honduras about free cities as an excellent introduction to the subject. Strong believes that free cities are a key to dealing with global poverty, and I agree. (The rest of the video from the conference is full of interesting ideas about the future of free zones around the world.)

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